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Isa Soares Tonight
America Marks 25th Anniversary Of 9/11; Houthis Seize A Strategic Island In The Red Sea; Anthropic Says It Blocked Multiple Accounts That Used the Company's A.I. Models In Ways That Could Develop Bioweapons; Nation Marks The 25th Anniversary Of 9/11 Terror Attacks; Trump Tells Republicans To Vote And Cheat Like Hell In Midterms; Anthropic: Unclear If Blocked Accounts Intended Harm. Aired 2-3p ET
Aired September 11, 2026 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:00:00]
ISA SOARES, HOST, ISA SOARES TONIGHT: A very warm welcome to the show, everyone, I'm Isa Soares. Tonight, 25 years on, America mourns 9/11, and
the thousands who died on that day, and in the weeks, months and years after. We'll have more on the solemn events from right across marking this
anniversary.
Then the Houthis seize a strategic island in the Red Sea, something Iran calls a clear victory. We'll have the very latest on the war in the Middle
East. Plus, the A.I. alarm bells continue to ring. Anthropic says it blocked multiple accounts that used the company's A.I. models in ways that
could develop bioweapons. We'll have that and much more ahead for you.
We do begin in the United States, marking a somber milestone, 25 years after the day that changed America, and in fact, the world. And for those
who lost loved ones that fateful day, the grief as well as the heartbreak hasn't faded a quarter of a century later.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(BAGPIPE TUNES)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: The 2,977 innocent victims that died are being honored in New York, at the Pentagon today and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. For the first time,
there was a moment of silence as a seventh bell rang to remember those who have died.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(BELL RINGING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: And that seventh bell was to, of course, remember those who had died from 9/11-related illnesses, which we've been talking about here in
the week. This week, New York released records showing that officials knew the air quality around Ground Zero was unsafe, but told the public
otherwise.
Today's recognition is something first responders, as well as volunteers, have fought for.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SONIA AGRON, RECOVERY WORKER AFTER 9/11: My husband and I both have illnesses, he survived cancer, but between the both of us, we have about
six different illnesses, auto-immune diseases, no cure.
And we know how it's going to end. And the seventh bell is really going to hit us hard this year, because one day it will be ringing for us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Goodness. Well, a ceremony was also held at the Pentagon honoring the 184 people killed there when Flight 77 struck the buildings' west side.
The names of those lost were read and a bell rung in their memory.
President Donald Trump attended the event along with the first lady and multiple military; as well as government officials, as you can see there.
In his remarks, the President highlighted the endurance of what he called the American spirit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Because of that spirit, when future generations come here in 25, 100 or 250 years from now, they will
stand in a nation that is free and unyielding in the face of evil, and they will still honor the heroes of 9/11, 2001.
Who no age will erase from the memory of time. It will never, ever be forgotten, will never be forgotten.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: While Brian Todd was at the Pentagon ceremony earlier and joins me now from Arlington, Virginia. Brian, good to see you. Look, as we've been
showing our viewers here, somber day, really many speeches from many officials, including President Trump, who highlighted both the heroism and
the resistance, of course, of so many on that day. What was the standout message you think?
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the standout message, Isa, was that it can never really be forgotten. President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete
Hegseth kind of laid into those themes quite a lot during their speeches.
[14:05:00]
They both talked about the heroes and the victims of 9/11. President Trump had a lot of anecdotes, a lot of stories about people who were victims who
did not survive, but also those who did and their loved ones here.
So, it was a lot about that. It was a lot about the first responders, both here at the Pentagon and, of course, at the World Trade Center, who went
into action in the minutes right after the attacks at those places, and the heroism that they displayed.
Also, the fact that many of them lost their lives in the weeks, months and years after 9/11 from 9/11-related incidents. The President also felt like
he did have to talk about the war on Iran and kind of laid out why he and his administration wanted to engage in that war. Take a listen to what the
President had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We salute the service members working right now to ensure the world's number one sponsor of terror, the Islamic Republic of Iran, will
never, ever have a nuclear weapon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: And an especially poignant moment came about, I'd say, a quarter of the way through the reading of the names here, they read the names of all
184 people who died here at the Pentagon. I'd say about a quarter of the way through it, they showed a picture of one family of four, the entire
family who died all at once aboard American Airlines Flight 77.
They were the Falkenberg family, and they ran a picture of all four of them. It was Charles Falkenberg, his wife, Leslie Whittingham(ph), their
eight-year-old daughter Zoe, and their three-year-old daughter, Dana Falkenberg.
They were residents of suburban Maryland. They were on their way to Los Angeles and then to Australia, to go to a fellowship, an academic
fellowship for a few months that Leslie Whittingham(ph) was going to engage in.
And they had a -- you know, a lot of interesting things planned ahead of them, of course. But this family of four taken very suddenly when the plane
hit the building that day, Isa.
SOARES: Yes, and so important we see their faces, we remember their names, of course, for so many and for -- and lessons for so many of us. I do want
to ask you, Brian, about what Condoleezza Rice said, which really struck me.
She talked -- she said she felt -- I want to quote her deep personal remorse for not preventing 9/11. That really stood out to me. What did you
make of what she had to say?
TODD: Isa, I'm really glad you mentioned this because it struck me, too. And I don't know whether a lot of people paid attention to it because of
the fact that, you know, the President was speaking and Hegseth was speaking, but that admission of mistakes was extraordinary.
And I'll delve into the quote. Here's what she -- here's what Condoleezza Rice had to say. Quote, "those of us in authority on that day did not see
the nature of the danger in time to prevent the attack of 9/11. We did what we knew to do, but by definition, it was not enough." End quote.
I thought that was extraordinary. You have seen very rarely among top officials before and since 9/11 of -- you have never seen really -- very
rarely seen an admission of mistake or failure. I can recall one other person doing it. That was Richard Clarke.
He was a top national security official who said during congressional hearings right after 9/11, quote, "we failed you. I failed you." That quote
and this quote from Condoleezza Rice, those are the only two moments that I can really recall where officials in public, after the event, admitted
serious mistakes. So, I agree with you, Isa, that was extraordinary from Condoleezza Rice today.
SOARES: Brian, really appreciate you breaking it all down for us on this incredibly solemn day. Our thoughts, of course, are with everyone in New
York and those of the loved ones. Thank you very much. Brian Todd in Arlington, Virginia.
Well, through terrified phone calls with loved ones, the passengers and crew on United Flight 93, they knew about the New York and the Pentagon
attacks. They understood the hijackers' ultimate goal, and then they decided to fight back.
They stormed the cockpick(ph) -- cockpit sort -- pardon me, against armed al Qaeda operatives, forcing the plane to crash in a field outside
Shanksville in Pennsylvania. All 33 passengers and seven crew were killed, but their sacrifice saved lives.
It's believed the intended target was the U.S. Capitol or the White House. Those who died on Flight 93 were honored today in Shanksville.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Father, my hero, John Talignani.
(BELL RINGING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: I want to take a moment and take a look back at how the September 11th terror attacks unfolding -- and a warning, first to all of you
watching, these images are difficult to watch. Our Jason Carroll has this report.
[14:10:00]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BETTY ONG, LATE FLIGHT ATTENDANT: Somebody's stabbed in Business Class. I don't know. I think we're getting hijacked.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An emergency call from Betty Ong, a flight attendant on board American Airlines Flight 11,
scheduled to fly from Boston to Los Angeles. Ong is the first to alert ground operations a plane has been hijacked.
ONG: Our number one has been stabbed, and our five has been stabbed.
CARROLL: There are 76 passengers and 11 crew on board, 8:24 a.m., air controllers in Boston pick up the voice of the lead hijacker, Mohamed Atta,
from the cockpit as he makes an announcement to passengers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that American 11 trying to call?
MOHAMED ATTA, TERRORIST WHO HIJACKED AMERICAN AIRLINES FLIGHT 11 ON 9/11: We have some claims. Just stay quiet and we'll be OK.
CARROLL: Eight-forty-two A.M., United Airlines Flight 175 from Boston to Los Angeles, carrying 51 passengers and nine crew on board, is hijacked and
turns towards New York City. Eight-forty-six A.M., the unimaginable happens to American Airlines Flight 11.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The whole outside of the building there, was just a huge explosion. Send every available ambulance, everything you got to the World
Trade Center now!
CARROLL: Smoke and flames shoot out from the buildings 93rd and 99th floors.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This just in. You are looking at obviously a very disturbing live shot there. That is the World Trade Center, and we have
unconfirmed reports this morning that a plane has crashed into one of the towers of the World Trade Center.
CARROLL: America watches in horror, unsure if it's a tragic accident or something else.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The side of the World Trade Center exploded right when I looked up. And at that point, debris started falling, I couldn't believe
what I was watching.
CARROLL: Eight-fifty-one A.M., American Airlines Flight 77 from Dulles International Airport to Los Angeles becomes the third U.S. flight to be
hijacked. Sixty-four are on board. Air traffic controllers spot United Flight 175 on an erratic course.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just a moment, we've got an explosion inside --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is exploding right now, you've got people running up the street --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know with a slight what's going on.
CARROLL: Nine-zero-three A.M., the South Tower of the World Trade Center has been hit. Both Twin Towers now burning. First responders from across
the city raced downtown and into danger.
SECOND GRADERS: Playing --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, playing, get ready!
CARROLL: Nine-zero-five A.M., President George W. Bush is visiting second graders at a school in Florida, and is told by his Chief of Staff, America
is under attack.
(FIRE TRUCK SIRENS BLARING)
CARROLL: Frantic calls from inside the Twin Towers flood 9-1-1 dispatch, including one from Melissa Doi, a manager at a banking software company
trapped on the South Towers, 83rd floor.
MELISSA DOI, LATE BANKING SOFTWARE COMPANY MANAGER: We're on the floor and we can't breathe.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stay calm, stay calm, stay calm, stay calm.
DOI: Please, God --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're doing a good job, ma'am. You're doing a good job. You're doing --
DOI: It's so hot. I'm burning up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, Melissa, oh, my God.
CARROLL: Nine-twenty-eight A.M., a fourth aircraft is hijacked. United Flight 93 from Newark to San Francisco with 33 passengers and seven crew
members on board. Nine-thirty-seven A.M., an explosion is reported at the Pentagon near Washington D.C.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a large fire at the Pentagon. The Pentagon is being evacuated as we speak.
CARROLL: American Airlines Flight 77, which had taken off from Washington Dulles bound for Los Angeles, carrying 53 passengers, six crew, has crashed
into the building's west side.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was like a cruise missile with wings, went right there and slammed right into the Pentagon.
CARROLL: Back in New York, the Twin Towers continued to burn in front of horrified onlookers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can see the people jumping out the window. They're jumping out the window right now. Oh my God!
CARROLL: Nine-fifty-five A.M., passengers on board United Flight 93 have decided to try to take back the aircraft, an airphone operator on the line
with passenger Todd Beamer later recounted his rallying cry.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He turned to talk to someone else while the phone was still open, and he said, you ready? They must have responded to him. He
said, OK, let's roll.
CARROLL: Nine-fifty-nine A.M. --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is about as frightening a scene as you will ever see.
CARROLL: The collapse of the South Tower of the World Trade Center shakes the ground and the nation.
[14:15:00]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was one of the most horrific sights I've ever seen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The explosion shook the house. Clear over here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now, we are getting a confirmation from United Airlines that its flight United 93 on the way to San Francisco, has
crashed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And we looked up and we saw this huge airplane. This looked like a big silver bomb.
CARROLL: The passengers are later credited with taking down the hijackers before the aircraft could hit its intended target, either the nation's
Capitol building or the White House. Ten-twenty-eight A.M., the North Tower, the first tower hit that morning, also collapses.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's beyond words. It's horrifying. It's the worst thing that's ever happened. It's the most tragic thing that has happened to
America by far.
CARROLL: The World Trade Center is reduced to rubble and much of Downtown New York City is covered in debris and ash.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is just one of those awful moments that you need to look at for a minute or two to absorb exactly what has happened.
CARROLL: Two thousand, nine hundred and seventy-seven lives have been lost.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: Well, strategic island in the Red Sea has been seized by Houthi militants in Yemen. Iran calls the capture of Perim a clear victory for
their Shia ally. The Houthis now control virtually all of Yemen's Red Sea coast.
They're one step closer to a key waterway, the Bab al-Mandab Strait. The taking of Perim comes a day after the Houthis seized the key port of Mocha.
This is all raising new concerns about shipping and the potential impact on the U.S. war with Iran.
The Houthis are fighting a Saudi-led coalition, and sources say the U.S. is expanding its support for the kingdom. They say more than 100 U.S. military
advisors are on the ground in Saudi Arabia. CNN has also learned that top diplomats from the Gulf Arab states are set to meet with Iran's Foreign
Minister in Oman on Monday.
A source telling CNN, they're expected to discuss a deal to manage traffic through largely the shot, of course, Strait of Hormuz. Nic Robertson is
following all this development and his team, of course, if you remember, this week we showed you this, we're the first western journalists on Perim
island in years.
[14:20:00]
He joins me now, as you can see here in London. So, Nic, I mean, this is all happening at a very rapid pace. Yesterday, viewers were watching,
roughly this time yesterday, you and I were talking about the port town of Mocha.
Today, we are hearing the capturing of Perim Island. I mean, the war in Iraq -- with Iran is basically spilling over into the region. So, just
bring us up-to-date with the very latest.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, it really has. And Perim Island, that narrowest point on Bab al-Mandab Strait in the Red Sea,
where the Red Sea, empties out into the -- into the Gulf of Aden.
And that's where ships that are sort of coming from Europe and down the Red Sea, they come from the Suez Canal will then go to Asia. It's the shortest
route for commercial shipping between Europe and Asia.
The Houthis now have control over that. And what we heard from their spokesman today, he said, look, this shipping route is open. It's open to
all shipping except Saudi shipping. But as I put to the Houthi spokesman a few minutes ago, I said, look, you're effectively shutting the Red Sea to
all oil.
And it's only Saudi oil that goes down the Red Sea. So, you're actually shutting off any oil coming down the Red Sea just like Iran is through the
Strait of Hormuz. You're effectively supporting that blockade. And I asked as well, look, if you -- if the Iranians were to say to you, we want to
expand this blockade for all shipping, would you do that?
And he said, look, number one, we're an independent country. We make our own decisions, but we're friends of Iran. What's good for them is good for
us. And if we felt it was good for the region, then we would -- then we would do that.
So, I think the clear understanding at the moment is now that the Houthis, by taking Mocha, by accelerating down the Red Sea to the strategic Bab al-
Mandab Strait, now control it absolutely easily. You know, they admit they don't need big, sophisticated weapon systems to close it down.
So, I think that's where things stand at the end of today. And the question is now, what do the Houthis do next? Do they try to push further south?
Their spokesman told me they wouldn't do that. But there are, as you were saying, military operations going on in the east of the country, where the
Saudis are supporting the international government, the Houthis on the offensive there.
And as well striking inside of Saudi Arabia, that vital oil supply line that transits east-west in Saudi Arabia. So, it's -- the situation is a lot
more fragile --
SOARES: Yes --
ROBERTSON: Now than it was a few days ago.
SOARES: Yes, and it's moving very rapidly, not only what the Houthis do next, Nic, but what about allies, Saudi allies, the United States to --
what are you hearing from the U.S. on this? How will they move?
ROBERTSON: Clearly, and we heard this from Secretary of State Marco Rubio a few days ago. They were interested and watching closely as he said what was
happening in Yemen before the Houthis got to Mocha -- where the Houthis got there quickly.
I was speaking to a Yemen expert in the last couple of hours, and he said, look, this -- what was happening was no surprise. And I know from speaking
to the Yemeni forces inside of Yemen last week, they were telling friends in the White House that, look, the Houthis are preparing -- from early
August, they were preparing operations, which were very clearly going to come towards the Red Sea.
So, while there had been these experts in -- U.S. experts in Saudi Arabia supporting Saudi, helping it sort of understand the terrain, there's been
very little everyone involved on the frontlines there around Mocha and south of there in terms of actual Saudi military engagement.
So, people are asking, how did that happen? Why did that happen? But the hard reality now is exactly what the commander of the forces in Mocha told
me less than two weeks ago. Standing on -- standing there in Mocha that's now in Houthi hands, he said, if they -- if the Houthis take control, it
will be much harder to get them out than it would have been to stop them.
You'll need navies, you'll need ground troops, it can't be done by the air. So, I think right now, you're looking at a situation where the Houthis are
entrenched. They're not going to -- they're not going to shift from there, it's not going to -- there isn't a force in Yemen that's ready or capable
to take them on.
There isn't an international force that's being readied that could do that. And airstrikes alone won't do it either. The situation has changed
radically in the past 48 hours.
SOARES: Yes, vital insight there from our Nic Robertson. Thank you Nic, I really appreciate it. And still to come on the show tonight, I'll talk with
a retired special agent from the FBI about the September 11th attacks.
What has been learned and what's changed in the years since when it comes to Intelligence, of course. And President Trump closes out the Republican
Midterm Convention. We'll have more on his message to the party just ahead.
[14:25:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: Well, we have been remembering 9/11, the worst ever terrorist attack on U.S. soil. Today marks 25 years since that tragic day. Ceremonies
were held in New York City, at the Pentagon and in Shanksville, that's in Pennsylvania, all to honor the nearly 3,000 people who lost their lives
that day after al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial planes in coordinated attacks.
Among those who died were 343 New York City firefighters, 23 New York City Police Officers, and 37 officers at the Port Authority Police Department.
Leigh Waldman spoke with one firefighter who describes him -- really how events affected him in the days that followed.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE ESPOSITO, RESCUE COMPANY 5, NEW YORK CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT: I was either at the Trade Center or at the firehouse, or we were at a funeral, and
that's what my life was.
LEIGH WALDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For months after the towers of the World Trade Center fell, life for firefighter Joe Esposito changed.
ESPOSITO: Every day was just a lot of pressure on us, especially when you come home and get to face the families. Did you find him yet? No. That was
the tough part.
WALDMAN: It was a heartbreak his own family was facing. Esposito's older brother, Michael Esposito, and his cousin, Frank Esposito, both
firefighters, were killed alongside 341 others. Esposito's own firehouse Rescue Company 5, lost 11 members.
ESPOSITO: Captain Louis Modafferi, this is Lieutenant Harvey Harrell, and these were all firemen.
WALDMAN: Their Staten Island station is a working memorial dedicated to their lives and the heroism of their entire department.
ESPOSITO: It's something that you know, you learn to love and learn to be that fireman, to say, you know, somebody needs me, I'm going in.
WALDMAN: At Ground Zero, the 9/11 Memorial and Museum honors their lives and the thousands of others killed that day. As the years tick by, Museum
Director Clifford Chanin says their mission has changed.
[14:30:13]
CLIFFORD CHANIN, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, 9/11 MEMORIAL AND MUSEUM: The story of these 25 years is the story of those two moments in time. The
moment of the day and then this extended moment of what do you do after such an event.
WALDMAN: In Lower Manhattan, I'm Leigh Waldman.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: -- stay in New York. I want to bring in Maria Santana who's there. Maria, as we've been showing viewers, this was -- do we have Maria with us?
Do we have Maria? Maria, great. I'm glad -- I'm glad you're with us. Look, as we've been showing our viewers, this was an incredibly somber as well as
poignant day. And especially as we heard, Maria, every single name being read out, a reminder of course of the lives lost and the families that have
been broken.
Just give our viewers a sense of the emotion today, you know, 25 years on.
MARIA SANTANA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Isa, you speak to survivors, you speak to family members of the victims or anyone who was, present here
in New York or anywhere else in the country when these attacks happened. And the first thing they will tell you is that it is hard to believe that
it's been 25 years because no one has forgotten where they were, what they were doing, or how they reacted when that first plane struck the North
Tower of the World Trade Center. These are images and sounds and just emotions that have stayed with people throughout that time.
And you can imagine how this must feel for family members of the victims. They are the ones that take center stage here at the ceremony at ground
zero in New York. They read the names, almost 3,000 names of the people who died on here at ground zero, but also in Washington at the Pentagon and the
passengers of that plane, flight 93 that fell in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
They also read the names of the six people that died in the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center. There are also six moments of silence. Those are
very somber. Each moment marks the time when the planes struck the towers, when they fell, when the Pentagon was struck, and also when that plane came
down in Pennsylvania. But for the first time ever, there was also a seventh moment of silence at the end of the ceremony. And this one to honor the
people that have died since 9/11 due to 9/11 related illnesses, be it cancer or respiratory diseases due to the toxic air that was breathing --
that people were breathing in after these attacks in the days and weeks following -- volunteers, firefighters that have all died.
And you know there was controversy about that about what the authorities in New York knew, about the toxicity of the air around 9/11. And Zohran
Mamdani's administration just released documents that said that the authorities were aware that the air was toxic. So, of course, this moment
was also very important and symbolic and just full of emotion for people that have lost family members since the attack and who weren't being
recognized at official ceremonies, Isa.
SOARES: Thank you very much. Maria Santana there for us in New York.
Well, the nation has now had 25 years to process intelligence failures surrounding the attacks. Joining me to talk about that is Richard Kolko.
He's a retired supervisory special agent with the FBI who was on duty that day back in 2001.
Richard, really grateful that you can come on the show. If you -- if you don't mind, I do want to ask you whether you can take us back to that
morning. I know -- keep hearing that it was a beautiful morning became a horrible day for so many. You were working from what I understand on the
joint terrorism task force in Atlanta when the second plane hit. What did you understand in those first few hours about what had happened?
RICHARD KOLKO, RETIRED FBI SUPERVISORY SPECIAL AGENT: Well, I was assigned to the joint terrorism task force in Atlanta, Georgia in the FBI field
office. I've been in agent for about five-plus years at that point. And just the way the office was set up, the television was in front of my desk.
So, everybody gathered around after that first plane hit, and we were just watching, wondering what's going on. And all of a sudden, the second plane
hit and we knew there was going to be a lot of work ahead and this was a very, very dangerous time.
So, the agents began working right away. The analysts began working right away. One of our primary focuses was the Atlanta airport. Were there any
aircraft that had come or gone from Atlanta? A lot of work being done there. A very, very stressful, intense moments as you can imagine. We
actually deployed our SWAT team to protect the building. We had agents come from other squads to volunteer to help on the joint terrorism task force
knowing how busy it was going to be.
And then later in the day, I got a call from Washington, D.C. from headquarters and I was asked to come up to D.C. and help. And as you know,
the -- or as our folks that were around remember, the airspace was shut down. All the airplanes were grounded. So, I had to drive to Washington.
And I drove up there that night and stopped to look at the Pentagon. And then worked my way to headquarters and I began working the command post at
FBI headquarters.
[14:35:34]
SOARES: And how terrifying that must have been for so many of course in the hours after these attacks. Now that we've had these 25 years and since --
you know, what we have learned since, Richard, I'm guessing and this is something I was hearing in a podcast even today, and this is one of the
reasons -- 9/11 was one of the reasons I went into journalism by the way. I wanted to be a diplomat was because of what happened in 9/11. But so many
kind of central lessons have been learned. And what I keep hearing and reading is that there was information that existed across different
agencies, but it wasn't always shared or connected effectively.
I'm not sure -- I'm not sure whether you know whether that was because of competition or the system itself. How has 9/11, Richard, changed the way
the intelligence community works together?
KOLKO: Well, I think it was a little bit of both. It was what we called stove piping which meant information and intelligence stayed in that one
agency that owned it. And whether it was competition or trust issues, it was not being shared effectively. And as it turns out, and we learned from
the 9/11 report a couple years after that, that there was information at, you know, maybe at CIA that might have helped the FBI conduct some
investigations. And that goes both directions that there was information and intelligence throughout the Intelligence Community that could have been
helpful.
So, immediately law enforcement, the Intelligence Community, Congress, they began to address this to make sure it doesn't happen again. We call it
connecting the dots. There were lots of dots out there, but they were not being connected. So, they stood up the Directorate of National
Intelligence, as you know, to oversee all 18 intelligence agencies. They stood up the Department of Homeland Security, TSA, multiple other entities
to work in the community and share that information and the rules were changed dramatically and that has helped.
There have been problems over the years getting things smoothed out, but it's infinitely better than it was on 9/10/2001.
SOARES: And on the flip side of that, Richard, I mean, technology now, we've got databases, we've got biometrics, we've got real time data, we
have A.I. Have -- has all this data made, you know, intelligence agencies better you think are preventing attacks, Richard? Or do you think the
connecting the dots with so much information that makes it harder?
KOLKO: No, I think it's been very, very helpful. You brought up the databases. That's a great example. I appreciate you saying that. What
happened was the different agencies had their databases. They weren't shared. So, they brought them together in, the National Counterterrorism
Center, and all the different databases from all the Intelligence Communities were there in one place.
Now they could check against each other who had what in what database. Very helpful for moving forward with the investigations. The FBI receives
thousands of tips every single day by phone, by internet, by email. They come into the National Threat Center in West Virginia and now just the FBI
recently announced they're now using A.I. to help assess those threats. Every threat is always looked at, but using A.I. now that's been an
advantage. They're able to connect the dots a little bit better. They get a threat from over here and then a threat from over here. It might not have
been as obvious right away that they were connected, but A.I. is helping in that kind of situation.
So, there are progress. There is progress being made all the time. Still problems, still issues. They're not going to go away overnight or even over
25 years, but I definitely think things are getting better.
SOARES: Richard, really appreciate you coming on the show. Richard Kolko joining us there from Reston in Virginia. Thank you.
KOLKO: Thank you for having me.
SOARES: Now, we are going to take a short -- you're very welcome. We are going to take a short break. Do stay right here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:42:02]
SOARES: U.S. President Donald Trump took the stage for the second night in a row at the Midterm Convention in Dallas, and he told the crowd they will
go to hell if they don't vote in the November elections. The President also doubled down on his pledge, if you remember, from the night before, to pay
every American adult $5,000 if congressional Republicans remain in power. But he still didn't provide any details on how he plans to do that.
Mr. Trump is also urging Republican voters to cheat like hell in the November elections and to vote whether they registered or not.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Please raise your right hand. I pledge to the greatest president in the history of the United States that
I will go out with my family, my friends. I'll do it anyway. I don't care if I'm registered or not. I'm going to try and cheat like hell like they
do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Kevin Liptak joins me for more from Washington. Kevin, I really don't even know where to start. How about this? What was the message then
from the president?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, I think it probably is summed up with his repeated refrain that he wants these Republicans to
"Pretend I'm on the ballot." The President clearly views himself as the best and in a lot of ways the only animating figure for the Republican
Party as they stare down what is going to be quite a daunting midterm election for them.
And you know, we knew from the get-go that this entire convention was kind of conceived around President Trump. And over the course of those two
nights, it was very evident that he was at the very center of all of this. He spoke for two and a half hours alto together spread out over both of
those nights.
And even last night, which was ostensibly supposed to be about the vice president, J.D. Vance, it was President Trump who ended up center stage at
the end of the night standing alone swaying as that opera singer was singing, which I think kind of crystallized in a lot of ways the picture of
President Trump as the very center of the Republican Party at the moment, at least in his own view and in his advisor's view.
Now, there are a lot of Republicans who think that that is just a recipe for disaster. That if you make these midterms a referendum on the
President's first two years in office, that that's just going to doom them since he's so historically unpopular and so many Americans don't like the
direction of the country. But that's obviously not what the president's mindset is. He's actually said that he will be out very intensively
campaigning over the next two months.
Now, whether that actually comes to pass, I think I'm interested to see. You know, he has been saying for the entirety of this year that he would be
out every week talking about his agenda and talking about his accomplishments, but that has not materialized. Now, he says he has these
35 races in mind that he will be focusing very squarely on trying to get those Republicans off the finish line.
But it was interesting when he was interviewed on Fox News last night when he was asked by Laura Ingraham, who is a very sympathetic interviewer, she
asked if he would be out in the same intensity of his previous campaigns and he said very bluntly, no.
[14:45:16]
SOARES: Look, you mentioned Vice President J.D. Vance who was met -- I saw with chants of J.D.-J.D. And he did take this opportunity to kind of pitch
himself as if President Trump. He said we got to take care of business this November then we'll worry about what comes next. I mean, how was that
received? Just speak to the pitch.
LIPTAK: Yes. And I think, you know, it is evident at this point. It's very early, but J.D. Vance is clearly emerging as a front runner. A lot of that
is going to depend on what President Trump decides to do, whether he throws his support behind Vance or behind someone else or behind nobody at all.
But at least for now, Vance does seem like he is taking up that mantle.
And his speech was well-received by those chants, by a fairly ruckus crowd. It was far more scripted than anything we ever hear from President Trump.
He was on his teleprompter almost the entire time. He kind of made the center of the speech this -- focus on promoting the nuclear family. I
thought to me the most interesting part was his reference or lack of reference to the war in Iran compared to President Trump who brought it up
repeatedly in his speech.
The Vice President didn't bring it up at all explicitly, although he did at one point talk about disagreements within the conservative movement and
within the conservative part -- or Republican Party over policy and he was talking about foreign policy and the clear reference was to Iran. He made
no defense of the war in Iran. And we know Vice President Vance is someone who opposed the war before it began. And so, that going forward is
something to watch as he looks to differentiate himself from the President on areas where he is unpopular. And he's clearly going to have to do that
if he wants to run for president.
The other things you didn't hear in that speech was the word tariff. He didn't mention that at all compared to President Trump who brought it up
all the time. He didn't talk about the ballroom project. President Trump brings that up every time he is in public. And so, you are starting to see
these areas where the Vice President is very, very quietly starting to break from the president. He's obviously not doing that explicitly. He is
the Vice President, and it will be very difficult I think for him to separate himself from the record of this administration. But it is
something I think to keep your eye on going forward.
SOARES: Kevin Liptak, good to see you, my friend. Thank you very much indeed.
And still to come tonight on the show, how is artificial intelligence impacting modern warfare? Anthropic says it blocked accounts using its
models in ways that could have developed bioweapons. We'll discuss it with an expert after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:50:25]
SOARES: Welcome back everyone. Artificial intelligence company Anthropic says it's blocked multiple accounts that were potentially using A.I. to
develop biological weapons. In a new report, Anthropic warns that biological misuse is one of the most serious risks, their words, of A.I.
And looking at a 30-day period, it describes incidents of potentially concerning research.
Anthropic also says it disrupted efforts to use its models for surveillance, scams, and to develop conventional weapons, including drones
and missiles. These allegedly involved bad actors in Russia, in China, and in Yemen.
And this comes just days after a former anthropic employee sounded the alarm about the dangers of insufficient A.I. regulation and A.I.'s threat
to humanity. So, let's discuss how warfare really this moment is evolving in the age of A.I. General Sir Richard Barrons is a former British
Commander of the Joint Forces and a senior consulting fellow at Chatham House International Security Program and he joins me now.
General, welcome to the show. Look, we have been spending so much time and quite rightly so talking about what A.I. could do in the future, but what
we've seen in that Anthropic report shows us in detail in several of the case studies how A.I. is already being misused right now in warfare to
design missiles, bombs, pathogens and so on. So, your initial thoughts following that Anthropic report?
RICHARD BARRONS, SENIOR CONSULTING FELLOW, CHATHAM HOUSE INTERNATIONAL SECURITY PROGRAMME: So, really the future is now. It's been clear for about
years that all the technology that constitutes the digital age -- so data, AI, robotics, autonomy, bioscience, all of those things in combination will
change war just as much as they change how we live, work, and play. That's not a surprise.
And for example, in the way that the U.S. Armed Forces could strike Iran to the tune of a thousand targets a day is only possible because they have
A.I. at the heart of their system. So, we shouldn't think that A.I. and warfare is some future thing. It's a now thing. And the challenge is it's
going to get more serious and it's probably going to get out of control. And that's the really dangerous point.
SOARES: Right. And I do want to share with our viewers one -- some of the - - two of the case studies Anthropic actually mentions in that report, General, where they found actors in Yemen, were basically Houthi militants
operate, who were using A.I. to support the development of missile and rocket systems. And then in Russia, according to Anthropic, a group of was
developing a drone swarm designed to select and target attack targets without a human in the look, basically in loop.
So, does giving these relatively small groups access to this kind of A.I. make war fundamentally more dangerous in your -- in your eyes?
BARRONS: So, in the examples you cite, this is Anthropic telling us that they were concerned that these activities were underway. So, we must assume
that there are many, many other examples where actors around the world so states and non-state actors, have acquired A.I. technology. It doesn't need
to be the cutting edge like Anthropic. It can be less capable but good enough for their purposes.
And they will be applying that technology to how they design conventional military forces. So, the command and control system, the weapon systems
that they employ like drones and missiles. And also, just as alarmingly, how they think about cyberattacks and social media manipulation. We are
already in a world where A.I. will dominate how states and non-state actors confront and conflict.
SOARES: Right. And you argue and source some of the notes you sent over and your thoughts to my producer. And you argue, General, that future
battlefield be built around what you call digital kill webs. Explain what you mean by that and how close you think we are to that.
BARRONS: So, we're already there. It'll just keep evolving. And the idea of a -- of a kill web has been around for about 10 years, I think -- I think
now. And what it essentially captures is that every form of sensor, so that might be a satellite, a ship, a mobile phone, an open-source database,
anything that senses the world in which a military are trying to operate, can of course now networked. And all of that data put into a single
database in the cloud. And because of that huge amount of data, that data will be managed by artificial intelligence.
And the artificial intelligence turns that data into prioritized targets based on its learning. And then you want to believe very much indeed that
there is a human that is sanctioning the allocation of those targets to weapon systems, whether that's a tank, a ship, a missile, a bomb, a tweet,
a cyberattack. But the kill web senses the environment, converts the data into targets and other forms of decision support, allocates them to weapon
systems, and they fire.
[14:55:44]
Now, in the context of say the Israeli Defense Forces' activities over Gaza, that is a seven-second process. In the war in Ukraine, both sides
have a kill -- a kill web version, and they operate about a one to two- minute process. And in the case of how the U.S. targeted Iran, it's massive and quick.
SOARES: Yes. General, I really appreciate you coming on the show. Unfortunately, we're running out of time. I wish we had more time, of
course, to talk about what would this mean for governments and militaries because like you said, you know, you can't put the genie back in the
bottle. So, longer discussion is needed and warranted.
Thank you very much, General. I really appreciate it there, Sir Richard Barrons.
And that does it for this hour. Thank you very much for your company. Do stay right here. "WHAT WE KNOW" with Max Foster is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
